A major aftershock has dealt another blow to the Japanese survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster. This latest shock comes just as life was beginning to take on some semblance of normality. The tremors woke Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Japan correspondent Kjeld Duits in his hotel room. He reports on a night and day in a startled city.

The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter scale hit at 23.30, just as many people were settling down for the night. Those already asleep were woken by a deafening rumble. In the Sunroute Hotel in Ichinoseki, around 100 kilometres from the epicentre, the air in the corridors is grey with dust and powdered concrete. Pieces of the ceiling have collapsed onto the floor. Electricity supplies have failed and small lamps powered by the emergency generator are shining weakly though the grey curtain of dust.

Discipline
People wrapped in blue yukata, a simple cotton kimono for sleeping in, are walking around with shocked expressions. Well-drilled employees run from floor to floor to gauge the extent of the damage. Once again it is striking how calmly people respond.

Within a matter of minutes, everyone is called down to the ground floor, where a hotel manager reads out the names of all the guests. He wants to be sure that everyone has survived the aftershock unscathed. Fortunately, that is the case.

“I’m okay”
Many of the guests are simply staring into space in the darkened foyer. Others utter words of reassurance into their mobile phones: “Don’t worry. I’m okay.” Words repeated over and over again.

Outside the streets are full of people. Tension is in the air. The city has been plunged into darkness, except for isolated beams of torchlight and the occasional glare of car headlights. A fire engine drives past, its lights flashing, in search of gas leaks or fires. Every now and again a siren cuts through the still of the night.

Standstill
The light of dawn reveals surprisingly little damage to homes and other buildings. Infrastructure is a different matter. Large sections of Eastern Japan are without electricity, water and gas. Telephones are not working and mobile phone connections are sporadic. Many roads are damaged or blocked. Trains remain stationary as long as the power is down and unless it is restored reasonably quickly, cars will also come to a standstill, since the petrol station pumps need electricity to operate.

Japanese broadcaster NHK reports at least four deaths and around 130 injured: a relatively modest death toll for such a powerful earthquake. But the greatest impact is psychological. “I’m completely exhausted,” says one 60-year-old hotel worker. His younger colleague is hard at work, still wearing her pyjamas and a coat she found in her car. She looks a little dishevelled, quite a contrast with her usually impeccable appearance. At home, her furniture and possessions were so badly shaken that she cannot get to her clothes. Her doors won’t close properly and she is worried someone might break in.

“I’m shocked that we have to go through this again,” she sighs. “I was finally starting to relax a little. But now it feels like we’re back to square one.”

(dd/cl)